Thanks to everyone that rented equipment from MNC this season.
Race Suit Rental Return:
If you are done racing for the season, please return your washed suit to Coach Liz at practice on 3/5 or 3/7. Please put it in a bag and write your name on the outside so we know who returned the suit.
If you are hoping to race some late season races, please keep your suit and return by March 30th. Email Coach Liz to make a drop-off plan – bkl@mansfieldnordic.org
Ski Equipment Rental Return:
If you are done skiing for the season please return your skis at practice on either 3/5 (penguins) or 3/7 (all other groups). If you can’t make it to practice this week or want to try and ski a few more times this season please return skis by March 30. Email Coach Liz to make a drop-off plan – bkl@mansfieldnordic.org
We had a really nice team dinner at the Lucky Dog Tavern on Saturday night! It was fun to have a catered event with some good company, billiards, and food for all.
If you attended and had dinner at this event, please use the following link to remit payment.
This past weekend marked the final Eastern Cup races of the ’23/’24 season. As Sara and I dug into some piping-hot Thai food takeout boxes in the cab of the unofficial MNC pickup truck (thanks Williston Uhaul!) I turned to her and asked,
“Are you nervous at all for this weekend?”
“Not really,” she replied.
“Me neither. Look how far we’ve come.”
I have anxiety-triggering memories of past Eastern Cup finals races pouring over spreadsheets with Sara trying to analyse who needed to get what place in the race to score an outside shot at Junior Nationals…provided so-and-so didn’t score X points instead and as long as this skier had only an average race compared to their best race and so on…
We have a big club…numbers vary from one EC to the next, but on the whole MNC, Craftsbury, and Ford Sayre seem to have the three largest groups: we’re each coaching and waxing for over 20 skiers a these events, with racers in every age group and across the points lists. That’s a really rewarding feeling, having skiers at these Eastern Cups who aren’t just on the hunt for a JNs spot, but just working to improve and grow as skiers. Maybe they’ll be there someday, and maybe not, and both outcomes are fine.
But those numbers also mean we inevitably have skiers on the “bubble” every year. The bubble, in ranking list terms, means hovering on the edge of qualification. One good race could put you ON the team, one tough race could take you OFF the team. Or, critically, one good race from another skier could change your position. The fact that some things are just out of your control is important to remember in many aspects of life.
Back to our truck cab takeout. Why weren’t Sara and I as nervous this year?
We’ve spent so much time this year in writing, in person, in social media, and more always trying to instill the values of process and growth over just results and rankings. We’ve had several skiers this year come into some of their best race during the second half of the season, and we’ve also had skiers start off strong, then take a dip for any number of reasons, and find new ways to come back to their best selves.
This year we’ve returned time and again to the concept that making JNs does not imply that you are officially a “successful” skier any more than not making JNs does not indicate that you are an “unsuccessful skier.”
The third and fourth Eastern Cups helped me put it into perspective in a more broad sense:
You can have a great season, and still have some races that aren’t great. The goal is growth and improvement.
You can have a tough season, and still have great races within that season. The goal is growth and improvement.
As coaches, Sara and I support every skier on the team, and try to recognize that “success” can take many different forms. We still used to get caught-up in the JN drama, because as a smaller underdog team when we first started in 2016 we had very few athletes making these trips. To us, having more skiers make JNs showed the growth of the club on one type of level to be sure. But that’s clearly not the only metric for a club, any more than it’s the only metric for a skier.
Our “bubble” skiers this year seemed in a great spot psychologically, and I think that helped Sara and I feel good about things too. It’s cyclical, and that’s the best feeling you can have within a team: the coach’s confidence in the athletes helps them perform, and the athlete strength carries-over and helps the coaches feel stronger.
So we ate our rice, went to bed, and slept well.
The rest of the weekend was a memorable one! The skate sprint qualifier brought us a busy day with athletes in open heats, U18/U20 heats, and U16 heats all day. Some skiers had their best qualifiers and skied strongly in the heats, notably Anders who took top spot for U18s and stood on the overall podium in 2nd, only behind pro skier Fin Bailey. Niko and Nico skied great in their heats, with Niko Cuneo advancing to the semis with amazing finishing speed and positioning on the final corner into the finish…all that F1 watching is definitely paying off!
Niko and Nico! (photo by Lorenzo)
Jonah made the open heats for the first time as a U16, and got a taste of some new competition which will serve him
From just missing the open heats, to climbing atop the U16 heat podium!
well when he goes up against skiers from other regions he hasn’t rubbed elbows with at JNs. And in the women’s open heats Elsa skied a great fast quarterfinal to make it through to the semis and give herself the first Eastern Cup top-10 of her career (little did we know that was only a preview of what was to come)!
Seven, who only did a single Eastern Cup last year and, as I like to always give her a hard time about, “didn’t know that summer training for skiing was a thing until the bus ride home from U16s last year,” skied into her second Junior heats of the season, having now done it in both classic and skate techniques.
Our U16s had a tougher time in the qualifier, seemingly caught off-guard by a super fast and short course. This was an incredibly impressive moment for growth and learning though, as Astrid, Charlotte, Brooke, and Kate all changed their approach for the heats and totally put the hammer down against their competition. Despite warmer and softer snow, the times these four all put up in their heats were significantly faster than the qualifier…if that’s not improvement, what is?
On Saturday night, we enjoyed a catered team dinner at the Lucky Dog Tavern in downtown Plymouth. It was great to have our own room, a pool table, and some food prepared for us! Parents and skiers got to hang out and relax, and I shared a quick clip I put together from the World Cup of the cheering and energy from the crowd.
My takeaway that I shared with the whole group? The World Cup is great, but many of those skiers are at the TOP of their game. While it would be nice to coach there more, right now the most joy I get is from seeing athletes develop and learn, overcome challenges, and work to improve as skiers and humans. There isn’t much that’s more rewarding…but of course the cheering was pretty epic at that World Cup level!
Well, the team took that cheering aspect to heart, as thanks to Lorenzo and Jonah we now own not one, but two gigantic speakers that are essentially rock band amplifiers. Put those things out on a big hill on course, get the sun shining and the air warm, and gather an energetic group of teenage athletes, and you have some World Cup vibes in an instant! This was the scene during the women’s race (the last race of the day) on the biggest climb:
The race of the morning went to Astrid, who skied amazingly on the climbs and used her increasing strength to power through the double pole sections to take 4th, her best Eastern Cup finish by a big margin! Nothing like ending the regular season with your best day! Charlotte Crum also had her strongest race in 12th!
In the men’s race, Jonah’s 2nd place finish meant he ended the season as the top ranked U16, while James capped off a busy weekend with another top-20 in his first season of EC racing.
This final 10km classic was a killer race for Nico Hochanadel last year, and in that race he finished 11th. He announced before this one that “today my goal is top 10, maybe 6th” and he definitely manifested that! With smart consistency he moved up throughout the race to end up, well…6th overall! Anders followed close behind in 7th making for a pretty strong MNC statement. It was the final Eastern Cup as MNC for Nico, Anders, Taylor and Pat, so a bit emotional for sure…this is a fun crew that has been at this for 4+ years together, and I’m sure they’ll all still work hard together and in their next adventures. Guys like Niko and Lorenzo, who have been just as big a part of this crew, won’t graduate and are certainly ready to fill some shoes and lead yet another generation of Pugs.
The women’s race was, as shown in that earlier photo, a big party atmosphere! It was the final Eastern Cup as MNC for Gillian, Elsa, Julia, and Greta, and they laid it all out there.
Elsa was the skier in our whole group most on the bubble, things were likely to come down to this race. Elsa didn’t just pop the bubble, she grabbed the whole bottle of bubble mix and poured it down the damn drain! She skied the best I have EVER seen her ski in her life, without question. She made that 10km look like a 1km, and brought in home in 6th place to more than seal the deal…she moved up several places in the rankings just off this one amazing performance alone!
In a similar vein, most are aware now of just how much Greta Kilburn can hammer. UVM took notice for sure, as she was recently given a roster spot on that squad for next season! She didn’t waste any time in preparing for next year with a well-paced battle against Dartmouth’s Adele Horning, who took top spot. Greta nabbed 2nd though, and what a cool way to close it out.
The Nordic world’s toughest competitor (with a future in ultramarathons or maybe Survivor if she is ever interested) Gillian sat out the sprint heats with a stomach bug, spent race morning in the fetal position, and then proclaimed that she just had to gut it out for this final race because there was no way she was going to miss it. With a few feeds to try and keep something in the system, she crushed it in 20th with Julia right behind in 21st. And just like that, another group of seniors competed in their last Eastern Cup for MNC…
But there’s more to come in the future, as Stella had one of her strongest races and got to ski stride-for-stride with some of the leaders around the 4-lap course. Seven sat this race out but was trailside to cheer and support which was awesome.
JNs Team Naming, and what’s next
The setting sun made for a nice backdrop for the JN team naming, and we couldn’t be more proud of ALL the MNC athletes who raced this season, whether that season ends with Junior Nationals or not. There is still a lot of racing to happen.
Over the loudspeaker, “Mansfield Nordic Club” was called out many times. 10 times, to be exact, as we have 10 ATHLETES QUALIFYING FOR JUNIOR NATIONALS this year! Woah!
Not only is this a huge number of athletes (previously we have had 6 athletes qualify in the last 3 consecutive years, which was already a huge benchmark for the club) it also shows something a little more nuanced that might not be picked-up on right away: we have athletes in every category.
U16 Men (Jonah Gorman)
U16 Women (Kate Carlson, Brooke Greenberg)
U18 Men (Anders Linseisen)
U18 Women (Gillian Fairfax, Elsa Sanborn, Julia Thurston)
U20 Men (Nico Hochanadel)
U20 Women (Greta Kilburn, Virginia Cobb)
One of our U16 athletes, Brooke, is still in Middle School. Two of our U20 athletes, Greta and Nico, attend UVM but are essentially “PG” athletes that train and race with MNC.
How cool is it to not only have many athletes racing at this level for the club, but to have this whole spectrum represented? This is truly a club that can help athletes of so many different ages and experience levels strive for their goals.
MNC JN Team (minus Virginia who is currently racing in Europe for biathlon!)
These are some really successful skiers competing at Junior Nationals…but as mentioned earlier, Junior Nationals is not the sole indicator of “success” in this sport. I’m so proud of all the athletes in this club, and the growth displayed by everyone is inspiring. From first-time Eastern Cup races, to careers spanning years at this level with highs and lows alike, it’s hard to say this isn’t an amazing thing we get to do every winter.
It’s February vacation week and for those vacationing in Vermont we have a couple fun BKL ski options this week. (We don’t have regular Tues/Thurs BKL during February Break, but practice resumes March 5th.) We’ll do some field trips and both Sleepy Hollow and Craftsbury have snow making, so conditions should be good even if the snow melts in town.
Sunday,February 25th 10:45am-1pm- Ski Games Day with the UVM Ski Team at Sleepy Hollow
Everyone is invited. We’ll play games on skis and have fun with the UVM Ski Team.
Meeting Time: 10:45am at the Pavilion at Sleepy Hollow. Eat a big snack before you come and bring a water bottle. If you arrive late get your skis on and meet us up in Molly’s Meadow (this is where the Skiathlon start and finish were a couple weeks ago). Sleepy Hollow Website
Ending Time: We’ll ski until about 12:00pm, then head back to the Pavilion for hot chocolate and snacks. UVM is also going to bring stickers, posters and shwag!!
Technique: We will skate ski. Bring rock skis if you have them. Penguins classic.
Tickets: Everyone needs a Sleepy Hollow ticket or season pass. We’ve organized $5 Sleepy Hollow tickets for this event. Please purchase your ticket inside the lodge when you arrive.
UVM Ski Team and MNC BKL having fun doing a games day at Bolton in 2010!
Wednesday, February 28th 10am- Craftsbury Ski Day
Join us for our traditional MNC BKL ski adventure day at Craftsbury.
This is a family event! Parents are encouraged to ski with us. We’ll have all different abilities and speeds and only a few coaches. If you have never been to Craftsbury, you are in for a treat! Impeccable grooming and beautiful trails at and it’s very affordable. Craftsbury Outdoor Center Website
Getting There: In google maps or your map app, enter: Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Craftsbury Common, VT
Meeting Time: 10:00am in the upper field, just outside the Nordic Center Lodge (bring a water bottle and holder)
Ending Time: It’s a little fluid. We will ski from 10 to about 12, have lunch and then play some games and do some relays, probably ending about 2. You are welcome to stay as long as you want!
Technique: We will skate ski. Penguins classic. And any parents that wants to join, but don’t skate ski, can classic too.
Lunch: Bring lunch! There is also a food option in the Nordic Center. Front Seat Coffee (of Hardwick) has an outpost at Craftsbury and they serve m-f 10-4 with sandwiches, baked goods, drinks and coffee.
Tickets: Everyone who skis needs a day pass or membership. Purchase them online HERE. It’s $5 for kids and $10 for adults.
There were many MNC friends and family in attendance during the World Cup races in Minneapolis last weekend. It’s no surprise that when the highest level of international competition comes to US soil, the impact of club skiing comes out in full force.
MNC at the World Cup? Yup, that happened.
Racing in her first ever World Cup was MNC’s Ava Thurston, who took some time away from her studies and EISA racing at Dartmouth to compete against the world’s best. With a 40th place finish you could say it was a pretty amazing day! But if you ask just what made it amazing, I have a hunch that Ava or any other person in attendance would tell you it was all about the ATMOSPHERE.
This was the most spectacular Nordic ski event I have ever seen. I have watched some World Cup races in person before (in nearby Quebec). I have seen BKL Festival days with hundreds of kids all having their best days on skis. I’ve been at Eastern Cup and Supertour races with speakers and boomboxes blasting and flags waving. I’ve seen NCAA mass start days when the course was lined with drunken alpine skiers really bringing the party…
But absolutely NOTHING compares to what happened at Theodore Wirth Park on Saturday and Sunday. Crowds of 15,000 people lined an entire sprint course. Deafening roars told you, without needing to look, exactly where on course any American athlete was. For Sunday’s distance race, the US Ski Team took note of the chaos on Saturday and purchased a handful of dry-erase whiteboards to write out split information, because they now knew that any amount of yelling would not get through to the athletes, such was the fervor of the crowd.
This crowd made Junior Nationals feel like an off-season timetrial.
This noise made the F-35 jets in South Burlington sound like a Chevy Bolt.
This energy made Jonah Gorman’s pre-race caffeine shots feel like chamomile tea.
And what was I doing there? I was very grateful to be more than a spectator, and it once again ties back to the growth and impact this club has.
Despite being on the US Ski Team, the “funded” positions like wax techs are reserved for A-team and B-team athletes. When Ava made the start list, she (and all other non-top-team athletes) were notified that:
You don’t get a wax tech, you have to bring your own
You don’t get wax, or tools, or supplies, or test skis…you bring your own
We can help out with what we’re using, but we aren’t going to wax your skis
Wax trailer squad
This whole World Cup thing has been on the radar for Ava for a bit now, and getting to experience the highest levels as a coach/tech is something that of course motivates me as well. This was new ground for both of us, but Ava and I were able to tackle it together in this case. If this World Cup had been in Europe, or overlapped with a bunch of racing back in New England, that might not have been the case, but everything just really came together nicely. I was able to join up with SMS T2 coach Perry Thomas, who has been to this type of rodeo before, and learn the ropes from a friend and fellow coach.
The two of us helped take care of skis for Alayna Sonnesyn (former UVM, now SMS T2), Will Koch (former SMS, now CU), Haley Brewster (UVM and MNC University), and Ava. It was kinda like the wax trailer having a special New England contingent!
I learned a lot, had a great time, and got to see how the highest levels operate. While I made a bunch of notes and shared them with our Eastern Cup waxing crew, it should be noted that nothing was crazy or unheard of…the processes and strategies and thought that goes into a World Cup waxing situation is very familiar to what we do here on a regular basis.
Of course, I was lucky to get out of the cabin and not only test skis, but occasionally (usually during the last race of each day, when ski duties were all taken care of) get out and watch the action. I bumped into MNC folks all over the place!
The awesome crowds of people cheering hammered-home just how much this sport means to so many people. That MNC and New England friends and family were big portions of the fanbase shows that the culture is just so damn strong.
And having so many athletes from the US race well (including Gus Schumacher WIN on Sunday) shows that we really are some of the best out there. And on top of that, many athletes with MNC ties, like Ava and Haley, had incredible World Cup debuts. In the skate race, Haley started one bib ahead of Heidi Weng from Norway. Not only did Haley hold her off until the last kilometer, she re-passed and outsprinted Weng to end up 25th on the day…incredible!
Haley Brewster (UVM/MNCU) vs Heidi Weng (NOR)
Skiers from within and adjacent to this club, Mansfield Nordic Club, can compete not only among the best in the US, but the best IN THE WORLD.
As if I needed any more reminders of what it means and feels like to be surrounded by passionate, hard-working, high-level athletes and support staff…we all rushed the podium after the final race and joined Jessie Diggins in celebrating more than podiums or points or placements, but the whole sport of Nordic skiing. That’s something to be proud of!
